


The Herald's Lady

by BrambleSoul



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: 100 word snippets, Eventual Romance, Humor, Modern Girl in Thedas, Snippets, adding tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-07-15 07:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16058387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrambleSoul/pseuds/BrambleSoul
Summary: Adventures of a middle-aged modern woman named Charlie in 100 word snippets.---Charlie isn't sure how she ended up in Thedas, became "The Herald's Lady"(Though, it felt more like "Herald's Mother"), or how she ended up a mage, but she sure as hell wasn't going to sit idly by while this world fell apart around her. Armed with her skills from earth, she forces her way through this new life with tenacious focus, doing her best in strong-arming the young Inquisitor to see the truth.





	1. Suspect

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy Doodly, Friends!
> 
> These snippets started out as me trying to motivate myself into writing a full blown story, but instead I've decided I want to keep it in snippets! In the future I may or may not add a different chapter format, or have slightly longer chapters... But for now, each chapter is going to be 100 words!
> 
> I will be adding tags to this story as it progresses. Because I'm bad at tags.

"Was. It. You?"

"I was a day away from the conclave before I ended up here. How am I supposed to know that you didn't drug me and bring me here so you have someone to blame?” the accused woman, Charlie, replied with a tilt of her head and a furrow in her brow, long dark golden hair spilling over her shoulder.

Leliana and Cullen exchanged glances before Liliana responded "Everyone in Haven will attest to you falling from the rift when the Herald was sealing it shut. It was quite unexpected as you can imagine."

"So... You believe me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	2. A Place to Stay

The winter air leached through her thin clothes as she followed Leliana through Haven, taking note of the places that were pointed out to her. It was surprising yet not unexpected that Haven was much larger than the game had alluded to.

“Are all Fereldans impervious to the cold?” she asked, looking at the lightly clothed people around her.

Leliana smiled, gesturing towards another woman. “Talk to her for warmer clothes. There’s the apothecary, and this is one of the huts we’ve delegated to refugees where you will be lodged for the time being.”

Wasn’t Leliana supposed to be scary?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	3. Refugee Gruel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOPS. Posted the incorrect chapter the first time. My bad!

After acquiring some warmer clothes and being assigned a bed, Charlie made her way to the tent that was set-up to feed the refugees, accepting the bowl of _something_ they handed her. She was unable to find an open place to sit, and so found a spot on a wall overlooking the lake and rift.

She would have to get used to this being on Thedas thing. And the staring. Apparently, after she had fallen from the rift and was carried back with the Herald, the people of Haven had started calling her his “lady”. Whatever the heck that meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	4. Mage to the Rescue!

Jumping down from the wall, Charlie put herself between the Templars and the young Elven woman they had been harassing, placing her feet into a defensive stance.

“Get the commander. I’ll hold them off.” She whispered to the Elven woman before addressing the two tin cans as they yelled after their escaping victim.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to force yourself upon a woman who doesn’t want your attentions?”

“You have no place interfering in our business, mage.” One said while the other raised his sword, and- **oh**!

White, searing cold raged through her body as she collapsed. Well. _Shit_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	5. Princess

Blinking green eyes into focus, Charlie took stock of her aching body, and the odd swaying and shape of her bed. No, not bed. Arms.

“Hello, Cullen.” She slurred, leaning her head on the fluff of his shoulder and taking a deep breath of the warmth at his neck. “Am I your princess?”

He made a distinct choking sound before clearing his throat and glancing at her from the corner of his eye. “I am taking you to the infirmary.”

“That’s less fun.” She said, regaining a little more coherence. “I’ve never been smited before.”

Cullen couldn’t help but grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	6. Je Peux Comprendre!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's probably going to seem like Charlie is quite capable at several things, but I promise there's a reason for everything. She'll have flaws in different ways to make up for the seemingly strange imbalance.

It was a long night of talking with the advisers, the Elven woman, and the two Templars before she was allowed to escape to her bed. Cullen, who was trying to turn a new leaf for the Templars, took their assault seriously, and assigned them to latrine duty for a month.

During the talks, however, she discovered that she understood Orlesian somehow, when one of the Templars had mumbled an insult to her under his breath. To which she began desperately reading book titles and found that she could also _read_ Orlesian _and_ Antivan. What else could she magically know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	7. Healer

During her assessment with Josephine, Charlie did her best to keep her talents under wraps; it wouldn’t do if they started asking too many questions. Though, when asked directly, she still answered honestly. There was no reason to make the advisers mistrust her.

In the end, she was assigned to help in the infirmary. Of course, she certainly wasn’t a doctor, but having lived in the countryside where medical help wasn’t immediately available, she was confident she would do some good. More good than those leech lovers, anyways. She just hoped they didn’t ask her to heal anyone with magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	8. Why Are There So Many Leeches?

Her days were long, filled with an unending stream of injured peoples of all types. Mages, Templars, refugees; the list was endless. Many suffered, many died, and Charlie felt overwhelmed with the lack of cleanliness and actual helpful procedures being done. Not to mention, Elves seemed to be postponed to be cared for last. It seemed, after further observation, that healers cared for their own. If they were a mage, they healed mages. If they were a Chantry sister, they tended to the Templars. As of yet, there were no Elven healers, so she took caring for them upon herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	9. Nobody Deserves to Suffer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm doing my best to update this story several times a week. Once a day, twice every two days...  
> I don't want to make any promises(so that I don't have to make excuses), but I'd like to keep this rolling on a weekly basis!  
> Thank you all so very much for your Kudos!  
> (It's not as easy as I thought condensing whole interactions into 100 words. GOSH DARN. I think we're due for a random full length chapter soon. Because I want to elaborate!)

The first time she used magic was after a long day at the infirmary, using her spare time to sew together a small cloak for a cold Elven child. Another healer had approached her, accusing her of wasting precious resources on knife ears. She lost her temper before she could make the man see reason.

“Who are you to tell me what to do anyways? Elves don’t deserve to suffer more than anyone else!”

Then, somehow, she condensed the air and _pushed_ the man away from her.

“Get out of my sight.” She snarled, satisfied when he ran in fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	10. Tame Little Monkies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter. I hate how I wrote it, I hate how I gave myself a 100 word limit, and I hate that no matter how many times I write it I still hate it. So. Anyways. Here's your shitty chapter. Hopefully the next one is better. <3

After serving the Elves for a couple days within Haven, Charlie now spent her evenings surrounded by Elven children helping out and learning about making cloaks, soaps, and patchwork shoes made of leather scraps supplied by Harritt. It was a strange experience having children come to her and force themselves into her routine, but she couldn’t turn them away. No matter how uncomfortable she was with children, who was she to deny young, bright minds wishing to learn for their own betterment and survival? For the sake of their families? Besides, the children behaved while around her for some reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	11. Silly Self Serving Asshats

It didn’t take long for the townsfolk to become upset with her, which wasn’t a bother so long as they didn’t cause bodily harm. Even when they started hiding her supplies and denying Elves entrance to the infirmary, she had brushed it off and used hours left for sleep to help those injured. It wasn’t bad until a group of entitled humans cornered her, threatening her to stop her nonsense and start focusing on the _important_ people.

“It’s just the way of things” they said. “Elves are not essential like us!”

If only they knew how horribly wrong they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	12. They're Baack!

Charlie was having a discussion with Josephine about the treatment of herself and the Elves when the Herald, after a month of absence, returned. He poked his head in, looking like exhaustion and shit personified, and told Josie he would meet with the advisers after a rest. The two women said their farewells, and Charlie jogged to catch up with the Herald.

“I believe I have you to thank for my kind treatment upon waking up.”

He looked at her, startled a moment before recognition painted his face. “Of course! I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


	13. A Place of Her Own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay in update! My boss went on vacation, and things always get crazy when that happens.

The following day, Charlie was busy moving sleeping, medical, and whatever personal supplies she had collected into the hut outside of Haven’s walls. Josephine had been kind enough to grant her with the building, to share with who she saw fit and use as she pleased. Of course, she had mentioned using it for healing and crafting in her spare time, and was given half hours at the infirmary, to which her sleep schedule was forever grateful for.

The evening was filled with laughter as children ran about helping her set up her meager supplies into some semblance of order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 100


	14. A Shared Meal

Before the Herald left to Val Royeaux, he stopped by Charlie’s hut with a large box of food and sewing materials. He had taken some time to speak to her after his meeting, and she jumped at the opportunity to share with him the treatment of Elves. Although He didn’t seem to grasp it as fully as she wished, he at least understood that those under the protection of the inquisition were suffering, and he wanted to lend a hand.

They spent a pleasant evening eating and chatting about nonsense, and when Maxwell left with a smile, Charlie was relieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 100


	15. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much of an excuse for not posting sooner. Work was busy, but I mostly just procrastinated. Heh. <3

That night she was visited by her spirit again. Though, the spirit had yet to ever approach her, so she had no idea what _kind_ of spirit it was; all it ever did was watch. Charlie wasn’t even sure when she became aware that she was conscious, in a way, in her dreams. It was strange to get used to at first, but it was similar to any other normal day just with shifting landscapes. She only ever dreamed of her old farm and the many animals there, doing chores of all things. She found her old routine was soothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 100


	16. Holla!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much of an excuse for this late chapter... One thing led to another, and stress stole my muse. But it's back! Kinda... Don't hate me. <3  
> Thank you all for your kind words and Kudos! Means a lot!

Slipping on her cleanest pair of clothes, looping her hair into a bun, and throwing on her second-hand cloak, Charlie marched herself out the door of her hut for her early morning stretching. She weaved through trees, boulders, and snow drifts, and eventually made it to her spot atop the cliff overlooking the lake. Looking down, she noticed Maxwell, Cassandra, Solas, and Varric mounting up for their journey. Letting out a quick, loud _‘whoop’_ to get their attention, she threw her arms into the air and waved, a smile breaking across her face when they all – some tentatively – waved back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 100


End file.
